Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Plants in the ancient Near Eastern texts. A transdisciplinary analysis of the human-plant relations in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods

Project description

A closer look at ancient human-plant dynamics

In ancient Mesopotamia, 10 plant species held pivotal roles in religious rituals, economic transactions, and societal structures during the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods. However, human overexploitation of these plants led to ecological traps, with enduring consequences still felt today. Despite their significance, these interactions remain inadequately explored, hindering our understanding of ancient societies and their impact on the environment. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the PlANET project merges historical, anthropological, and digital methodologies to pioneer a paradigm shift, integrating textual and archaeobotanical data to understand human-plant interactions. By fostering open-access databases and diverse dissemination channels, including scientific publications and social media, PlANET aims to raise awareness of plant significance in human history.

Objective

PlANET project aims to reconsider the role of ten plant species in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods (10th–6th cent. BCE) in religious, ideological, scholarly, gender, and economic spheres. It aims also to prove cases of human overexploitation of plant resources causing ecological traps, whose long-term effects are still experienced today. The project is the first full-scale study permitting us to dramatically increase our knowledge of Mesopotamian human-plant relations, by producing an innovative transdisciplinary non-anthropocentric paradigm, involving the methods of historical-philological and anthropological research, the archaeobotanical literature and the tools of Digital Humanities. It will set up an open-access database offering a systematic integration of textual data and archaeobotanical information to establish links between plant emic names, identifications, and activities described in textual sources. Such data variety will be analyzed in the light of Ecological Anthropology and Environmental Humanities. This holistic approach will make the outcomes relevant to a broad academic community since the addressed questions and methodologies can be used in other research fields, regions, and periods. The Dep. SARAS (Sapienza) and NELC (Penn) are the perfect places to acquire new multidisciplinary skills (study of cuneiform economic texts, Digital Humanities, and archaeobotany) and to open significant future academic career paths. SARAS has an anthropological section, while NELC collaborates with the Penn Museum, crucial to the successful implementation of the project. The results will be disseminated and communicated through various channels and audiences (online database, scientific works, statement for Iraqi Ministry of Environment, conference, popular science articles, social media, exhibition, and children’s book). The communication strategy contributes to a greater awareness of the important role of plants in human life.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 288 859,20
Address
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
Italy

See on map

Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0